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Chennai, India (BBN) – The Sensex and Nifty were trading flat due to profit-booking by funds and retail investors after two back-to-back record-setting sessions.
Traders said emergence of selling by participants at record levels and weak Asian cues dampened the sentiment here, reports The Hindu Business Line.
Investors were worried about US President Donald Trump’s ability to push through his economic agenda following accusations that he tried to quash an FBI probe.
At 10.45 a.m., the 30-share BSE index Sensex was up 24.07 points or 0.08 per cent at 30,606.67 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was down 1.05 points or 0.01 per cent at 9,511.20.
Among BSE sectoral indices, metal index was the star-performer and was up 1.91 per cent, followed by power 0.61 per cent, realty 0.45 per cent and capital goods 0.33 per cent. On the other hand, consumer durables index was down 0.75 per cent, IT 0.47 per cent, FMCG 0.42 per cent and TECk 0.28 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were Tata Steel (+5.63%), ICICI Bank (+1.68%), Bharti Airtel (+1.11%), M&M (+0.93%) and Hero MotoCorp (+0.93%), while the major losers were Wipro (-1.03%), ITC (-1.02%), Sun Pharma (-0.87%), Adani Ports (-0.85%) and Infosys (-0.74%).
ASIAN SHARES
US share futures and the dollar tumbled in Asian trade on Wednesday after reports President Donald Trump asked then-FBI Director James Comey to end a probe into Trump’s former national security advisor.
The reports raised questions over whether obstruction of justice charges could be laid against Trump, weakening confidence in the US president’s ability to push through an aggressive stimulus programme that investors had been banking on since his election last November.
S&P 500 mini futures, the world’s most liquid stock futures, dropped 0.5 per cent in early Asian trade.
The S&P 500 and the Dow ended Tuesday’s session flat after mixed economic data and retail earnings, while the Nasdaq had another record close with help from technology stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 2.19 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 20,979.75, and the S&P 500 lost 1.65 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 2,400.67, easing from an intraday record high of 2,405.77.
The Nasdaq Composite added 20.20 points, or 0.33 percent, to 6,169.87, a record close for the index.
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